This week we were shocked with the bombings in Boston and the explosion in Texas, making social media and world news spring to action. We mourn the deaths of free, innocent Americans. I mourn. My heart goes out to the parents and the brothers and the aunts and the coworkers and friends who lost, perhaps, the most influential person in their lives, or are now watching by their hospital bed.
The events
were, and are, very horrific. Do not suppose that I make light of these tragedies.
They took human lives, and these lives were dearly valuable.
But I found this last week interesting. Does it really take two bombs and an explosion
to see the brokenness of the world?
The woman
announcing on the radio today sent her heartfelt sympathies to Texas, which was comforting to hear.
But when was the last time the radio sent their heartfelt sympathies to the girls sitting outside planned parenthood? 15 people were killed yesterday and it made national news, as it should have. But 4,400 babies were aborted yesterday, and no one said anything. And Facebook didn't erupt. And the Mayor didn't come out to calm his worried townsmen.
But when was the last time the radio sent their heartfelt sympathies to the girls sitting outside planned parenthood? 15 people were killed yesterday and it made national news, as it should have. But 4,400 babies were aborted yesterday, and no one said anything. And Facebook didn't erupt. And the Mayor didn't come out to calm his worried townsmen.
Thousands
of people in our nation volunteered their help, time, and money to the victims in Boston.
But when was the last time a child died and a twitter page was immediately set up to alert the public of the 16,000 other children who would die of hunger before midnight? Or we rushed to the grocery store and cleared the shelves and set up food lines until all who needed to be fed were filled? The help flooding towards Boston and Texas will not cease until it's deemed that all who need help have been helped.
But when was the last time a child died and a twitter page was immediately set up to alert the public of the 16,000 other children who would die of hunger before midnight? Or we rushed to the grocery store and cleared the shelves and set up food lines until all who needed to be fed were filled? The help flooding towards Boston and Texas will not cease until it's deemed that all who need help have been helped.
Right now
the news is saying that 75 houses were leveled in Texas, therefore leaving 75
families homeless.
They will join the 635,000 other Americans who are homeless. Those invisible people aren't a daily blip on our middle-class radar. We don't wake up and hope that the people who slept under bridges last night are okay. We don't interview them or post pictures of them on CNN. Or what about the 123,000 orphans in America? When you're surrounded by affluence, you tend to only see affluence - unless something like a bomb forces you out.
They will join the 635,000 other Americans who are homeless. Those invisible people aren't a daily blip on our middle-class radar. We don't wake up and hope that the people who slept under bridges last night are okay. We don't interview them or post pictures of them on CNN. Or what about the 123,000 orphans in America? When you're surrounded by affluence, you tend to only see affluence - unless something like a bomb forces you out.
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The
president issued a public address following Boston, promising that he would
find the perpetrator and bring him to justice.
What about those who are trafficking the 14,500 – 17,500 people into the United States every year? Are they being brought to justice? There were a lot of TV shows on last night, but I don't seem to remember a surging amount of popular media bent on ending sex trafficking. Most people would agree that this is an injustice.
But what's anyone doing about it? Why isn't social media erupting every single second? According to statistics, around 75% of Americans identify themselves as Christians. That's about 235 million people.
235 million people who say they believe the words in James 2:16-17:
"And one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead."
What about those who are trafficking the 14,500 – 17,500 people into the United States every year? Are they being brought to justice? There were a lot of TV shows on last night, but I don't seem to remember a surging amount of popular media bent on ending sex trafficking. Most people would agree that this is an injustice.
But what's anyone doing about it? Why isn't social media erupting every single second? According to statistics, around 75% of Americans identify themselves as Christians. That's about 235 million people.
235 million people who say they believe the words in James 2:16-17:
"And one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead."
Or
Matthew 25:35-40
“Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.”
“Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.”
I have come
to the conclusion that we are apathetic. We don't like doing in secret. We
don't like getting our hands dirty if no one is going to see all the dirt.
These tragedies are captivating. They captivate our emotions and our energies - not joyously - but as if we cannot pull our eyes away, no matter how horrific the scene. The world likes to be shocked, but there's nothing shocking about a statistic. We forget that those statistics represent very real people.
And we should be shocked. We should be shocked by babies being ripped from their mother's wombs. We should be shocked by malnourished children dieing in gutters. We should be shocked by the depravity of humans and the injustices forced upon trafficked victims. We should be shocked with the amount of orphans who are never adopted.
Don't let Boston and Texas raise up your emotions for a few weeks, and then in a month of two, let it slip from your mind. May this brokenness stay before us and awaken us to the hurt that was happening before this week, and will continue on even after Boston is swept up and Texas is put back together.
Let these tragedies actually change who you are and what you are doing with your life. Let them change me. Because we can't just wait for a bomb to go off to spring to action. We have to be working anyway.
These tragedies are captivating. They captivate our emotions and our energies - not joyously - but as if we cannot pull our eyes away, no matter how horrific the scene. The world likes to be shocked, but there's nothing shocking about a statistic. We forget that those statistics represent very real people.
And we should be shocked. We should be shocked by babies being ripped from their mother's wombs. We should be shocked by malnourished children dieing in gutters. We should be shocked by the depravity of humans and the injustices forced upon trafficked victims. We should be shocked with the amount of orphans who are never adopted.
Don't let Boston and Texas raise up your emotions for a few weeks, and then in a month of two, let it slip from your mind. May this brokenness stay before us and awaken us to the hurt that was happening before this week, and will continue on even after Boston is swept up and Texas is put back together.
Let these tragedies actually change who you are and what you are doing with your life. Let them change me. Because we can't just wait for a bomb to go off to spring to action. We have to be working anyway.
If
you have not gold or silver ever ready to command,
If you cannot toward the needy reach an ever open hand,
You can visit the afflicted, O'er the erring you can weep;
You can be a true disciple, sitting at the Savior's feet.
If you cannot toward the needy reach an ever open hand,
You can visit the afflicted, O'er the erring you can weep;
You can be a true disciple, sitting at the Savior's feet.
Do
not then stand idly waiting for some greater work to do;
Fortune is a lazy goddess, she will never come to you.
Go and toil in any vineyard, do not fear to do or dare;
if you want a field of labor, you can find it anywhere.
- Ellen M. H. Gates
Fortune is a lazy goddess, she will never come to you.
Go and toil in any vineyard, do not fear to do or dare;
if you want a field of labor, you can find it anywhere.
- Ellen M. H. Gates
You
are forever my judge, and I'm forever your witness,
And
I pray that I'm always found on a mission about my Father's business.
Therefore
to him that knows to do good and does it not, to him it is sin. James 4:17
(I am deeply affected over the events of this week, and I do
not discount their magnitude or importance. If you know, or were
close to, anyone who was injured or affected by these tragedies, my sympathies
are wholeheartedly sent to you. I am praying for all of you.
I do not mean to make light or offend. I mean to beg myself - and all who need an excuse to begin serving - to find that excuse right now. It's right in front of our eyes.)
